Films like The Wolves of Wall Street, The Boiler Room or Glengarry Glenross, memorialize the punishing ritual that salespeople undergo as they learn to cold call. Indeed, cold calling is baked into American business culture. It is a little harder today: many folks do not have desk phones, you may have difficulty finding their mobile numbers, and even if you do, they’ll likely screen their calls. So, the cold calling process – still robust – has moved to short emails, thoughtful notes, or referrals (even if faint) from mutually known parties. Systematically, doggedly “working” a prospect list is still essential in making sales happen.
Cold calling is dead: long live cold calling.
Additional Resources
- Is Cold Calling Dead? – EBQ
- Glengarry Glen Ross – (Clip from movie)
- Boiler Room – (Clip from movie)
- What is Cold Calling? – Business Balls